FOOTBALL: Blue Devils stifle Redskins

Dolgeville football coach Chris Connolly believes in the old adage that defense wins championships.

The Blue Devils followed their coach’s belief Saturday afternoon as they held Oriskany scoreless, forced four turnovers and blocked a punt in a season-opening 40-0 Class D crossover win over the Redskins at Bill Bynon Field.

By Todd Dewan

The Telegram

By Todd Dewan

Posted Sep. 7, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 7, 2010 at 7:05 AM

By Todd Dewan

Posted Sep. 7, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 7, 2010 at 7:05 AM

DOLGEVILLE, N.Y.

Dolgeville football coach Chris Connolly believes in the old adage that defense wins championships.

The Blue Devils followed their coach’s belief Saturday afternoon as they held Oriskany scoreless, forced four turnovers and blocked a punt in a season-opening 40-0 Class D crossover win over the Redskins at Bill Bynon Field.

“Our front seven, I’d put up against anybody,” Connolly said. “We’re learning after that (in the secondary), but they stepped up, played tough and made tackles.”

The Blue Devils, who gained all 335 of their total yards on the ground and held Oriskany to just 176 total yards, were led offensively by Michael Barnes. The senior running back rushed for 144 yards on 12 carries and scored on long runs of 77 and 44 yards.

Dolgeville’s defense set up its first score as senior Tyler Tennant intercepted a pass by sophomore quarterback Austin Smith on the first play from scrimmage. On the ensuing play, junior running back Jared Frederick ran around the left side for a 12-yard touchdown run. First-year senior Cody Petras converted the first of four point-after-touchdown kicks to quickly make it 7-0 just 21 seconds into the game.

The rest of the opening quarter was a defensive struggle, but Barnes made it 14-0 in the opening minutes of the second quarter with a 77-yard touchdown run up the middle.

“He’s a violent kid, he’s a violent runner,” said Connolly of Barnes. “He’s one of the best football players I’ve been around in a long time.”

The Blue Devils’ defense set up the team’s next score as Barnes blocked Cody Murphy’s punt and the ball was recovered by Frederick at Oriskany’s 10-yard line. On the very next play, senior running back Alex Snyder ran around the left side untouched for a touchdown.

Dolgeville increased its 20-0 halftime lead early in the third quarter on a 55-yard quarterback keeper by junior Jake Darling.

“He’s a brand new quarterback,” Connolly said of Darling. “He kind of figured things out for himself, told me what was going on and we made some adjustments at halftime.”

Junior running back Ray Ruggerio made it 34-0 with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter on a seven-yard plunge and Barnes closed the scoring out at the 7:39 mark of the fourth on a 44-yard scamper.

Petras had the other two interceptions for the Blue Devils and junior Derek Barker added a fumble recovery.